"I am not an MP", P Chidambaram remarked today when asked whether he could again be the Finance Minister in the eventuality of UPA-III coming to power.

Chidambaram opted out of the Lok Sabha polls by fielding his son Karti as the Congress nominee from his traditional seat of Sivganga in Tamil Nadu.

At the AICC briefing, he sought to ignore questions that Manmohan Singh was not an MP when he first became Finance Minister.

Chidambaram, however, said that he would vacate his official bungalow soon after the results of the Lok Sabha polls are out.

Asked whether this signals that he was retiring from active politics, he shot back: "what is active politics to do with vacating the official residence".

To a question as to what is his advice to his successor in the Finance Ministry in the next government, Chidambaram said he hoped that the new FM will follow the 10-point agenda he has laid down in the interim budget. "He should add in it, but not subtract."

On Priyanaka Gandhi, Chidambaram said that she had put up a spirited campaign in Amethi and Rae Bareli and the success of that campaign will be reflected when the results come out.